With the animated Clone Wars series now concluded, fans don't have much to do except long forward to the recently-announced Bad Batch follow-up. But with scant news on that new show, fans could be in for a long wait. Fortunately, IDW has them covered with Star Wars Adventures: Clone Wars - Battle Tales #3 by Michael Moreci, Derek Charm, Valentino Pinto and Luis Antoni0 Delgado.
The book shows clone troopers with freeing prisoners from a Separatist outpost, with clone trooper Boil (along with presumably his buddy Waxer) making a brief reference to his adventures on Ryloth in the two-part Clone Wars episode "Innocents of Ryloth" and "Liberty on Ryloth". The action then switches to Commander Cody reviewing data on the upcoming mission with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Senator Padme Amadala. The team is preparing to survey a secret base beneath a palace on occupied Krystar, where Republic prisoners are rumored to be held.
The comic does a great job of re-capturing the feel of the Clone Wars. The credits page not only feature a moral in blue text, but also features a recap written in the same radio-drama tone of the animated series. The art for the comic is divided between Charm and Pinto, with both of their respective sections highlighting their skills. The opening battle, by Charm, is clean and colorful, and somewhat reminiscent of the previous animated Clone Wars mini-series by Genndy Tartakovsky, especially Delgado's vibrant colors. This especially works well when depicting the opening salvo with the Separatist, complete with one clone trooper ripping an unfortunate battle droid's still-protesting head from his body. Meanwhile, Pinto's art highlights the quiet but pivotal briefing scene.
Pinto does an excellent job capturing the expressions of the characters, from Padme Amidala's assured confidence to Obi-Wan Kenobi trademark pensive caution. He also does a good job distinguishing the helmet-less clone troopers from one another with differing body posture, hairstyles, and even skin tones.
Overall, while Star Wars Adventures: Clone Wars - Battle Tales #3 looks to be aimed at younger readers, it seems to be an excellent job of capturing the Clone Wars magic if the preview is any indication. The artwork from both Charm and Pinto in particular does an excellent job of depicting both the frenetic action as well as the feel of the characters without every looking bland or stilted, often a common downfall for many comic tie-ins. This should make for a sufficient book to satisfy readers until the Bad Batch finally makes its debut.